Hangar for airships



April 1, 1930. 0. KRELL 1,752,911

' HANGAR 'FOR-IAIRSHIPS Filed June so, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 1,1930. -o-. KRELL HANGAR FOR AIRSHIPS 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 30Patented. Apr. 1, 1930 UNITED STATES OTTO KRELL, OF BERLIN-DAHLEM,GER-MANY HANGAR FOR AIRSHIIS Application filed 'June 30, 1928, SerialNo. 289,436, and in Germany April 1,1927; I

tionary hangars has various disadvantages,

the niost salient of which is that the dirigible can only be detachedfrom the mooring mast and run into the hangar when wind and weather arefavorable. All the drawbacks of the stationar hangars are at onceeliminated by making them, movable. The

construction of movable hangars whether,

they are turnable, turnable and at the same time longitudinally andtransverselymovable or only linearly movable presents, however,increasing technical difficulties, due to the ever increasing sizes ofthe dirigibles and thus hangars. To overcome these difliculties it isnecessary to find new solutions for the construction of such hangars.Particular troubles arise in laying the rails evenly upon which thehangars turn or run. to which the platforms and trucks of the hangarsare exposed are very considerable with the vast dimensions of modernhangars, if means are not found to'control the forces as'regards theirmagnitude and direction.

One object of my invention'is to eliminate these difiicultiesencountered by movable hangars by providing between the-trucks or bogiesrunning upon the rails and the plat form of the rotatable or linearlymovable hangar hydraulic intermediate members, consisting of cylindersand pistons adapted to reciprocate therein. Inorder to maintain aconstant supporting force, which must correspond at each point ofsupport with the calculations, it is necessary that the support-' ingpressure apportioned to the individual trucks should be automaticallymaintained at the same value, when the truck following the rail track israised or lowered byunevennesses of the track. According to anotherobject of my invention I attain this equal load by connecting all thecylinders of all so the trucks with a common storage vessel,

The strains which is maintained at a constant pressure. The rapidity ofthe pressure equalization between the cylinders may be further increasedby also putting.the individual cylinders in, communication with oneanother by pressure' equalizing pipes. Even if the construction of thehangar should require, that the value of the supporting. pressure atindividual supporting points deviates from the correct load, of thegreater number of the supporting points, all truck could neverthelesswith their pressure pipes be put in communication with common storagevessel serving for equaliz- 1 ing the pressure, it being only necessaryto... choose the diameters of the cylindersand pis tons in accordancewith the various calculated supporting pressures larger or smaller./Vhen a thus supported hangar is set in motion the trucks follow andadapt themselves to all the unevennesses of the track. The constanthydraulic pressure forces the piston to move in the reverse direction tothe cylinder until the truck takesover again the supporting pressureapportioned to it by the, calculation. This holds' good for the lift-"ing and lowering of the. truck. lVhen lifting is to be performed.anexcess pressure is set up at the truck in question and thepistonconveys water under compression into the... storage or accumulatorvessel. This return 7 feed continues until the ordinary supportingpressure prevailsflagain. The reverse happens when the tIUCklS lowered.In the cylinder is, set up a pressure below the normal,

and water flows into it from the storage tank 3 until the pressure isagain equalized.

' state of equilibrium, which would permit that the hangar takes up anydesired oblique position. It would, furthermore, be possible, that whenthe pressure is exceeded which is... necessary for supportingthehangarthe play of the hydraulic intermediate members would beeliminated thenonly when the pistons issue from the cylinders. A further object of myinvention is to provide an automatic stroke limiting device between thepressure 169 pipe and the cylinder. It is, however, not necessary toequip all the pistons with this device, as long as a certain number oftons are adapted to be controlled, which are preferably located at theedge of the platform or floor of the hangar. These controlled pistonsforce the own stroke also upon the other uncontrolled pistons, if thesupporting pressure absorbed by the controlled pistons forms asufiicient portion of the total pressure. The control process takesplace as follows: If a controlled piston reaches the limit of thestroke, which may be adjustable, it shuts itself off from the pressurepipe by means of a stop cock or valve. The chut-off piston no longerparticipates in the work of lifting the hangar. The non-controlledpistons are thus overloaded, but as the pressure is unable to risecorrespondingly because the cylinder is connected with the commonstorage vessel,

the non-controlled piston also comes to rest. Thepressure in the commonvessel must never drop below the value necessary for carrying thefull'weight of the hangar.

If for constructive reasons it is necessary to subdivide the hangartransversely to the longitudinal axis, at least three pistons must beprovided for each section of the hangar, since three points arenecessary to determine the position of a plane.

It' will be readily understood that any known or new construction oftruck may be usedfor the purposes of my invention and trucks for one ormore lines of rails, as long as the mechanical arrangement is such, thatthe concentrated pressure exerted by the hanger is uniformly distributedover all the wheels. Since, however, the intercalation of the hydraulicmembers, the pressure equalization of which is automatically regulated,does initself not suflice, a further object of my invention is themanner of arranging the pistons and cylinders upon the trucks or theplatform of the hangar. According to my invention the pistons as well asthe cylinders are journaled in spherical. seats. This spherical bearinggives the hydraulic intermediate member in conjunction with theautomatic pressure equalization an ideal liberty of motion towards allsides, and the hangar floats,

so to say, upon the water under compression.

The fact that in modern hangars for dirigibles, the length of which mayamount to several hundred meters and the width 50 meters or more,considerable displacements'of the hangar structure in relation to thesupporting. trucksmust be taken into the bargain, makes still furthersafety measures necessary; The fluctuations in the temperature mayalready cause considerable alterations in length. It is thus a furtherobject of my invention to render the displacement of the hengarstructure transversely to the direction of travel harmless bysupporting the hangar upon the pressure cylinders in such a manpistionof travel.

ner, that under all circumstances it is able to move sufliciently fartransversely to the direc- Between the cylinder, which in this case isnot supported in a spherical seat, and the platform of the hangarrollers or balls are provided for this purpose in order to reduce theresistance to the displacement to a minimum. The piston retains in thiscase also its spherical seat as supporting point.

In the drawings affixed hereto and forming part of my specification fourembodiments of my invention are illustrated by way of example.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1, an elevation, and

Fig. 2, a plan of one embodiment for a single rail truck with hydrauliccqualizin mere. her without spherical or ball joints,

Fig. 3, an elevation, and

Fig. 4, a plan of a hangar supported on trucks, in these figures thereis also shown the mechanism for regulating the pressure equalization,

Fig. 5, a sectional elevation of a still further truck permittingtransverse motion of the hangar,

Fig. 6, a sectional plan of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7, a sectional plan of astill further modification.

Referring to the drawings H is the hangar for dirigibles, which with itsplatform rests upon the supporting plate 4, which in its turn carriesthe cylinder 5 of the hydraulic intermediate member. In the cylinder 5is adapted to reciprocate the piston 6 connected with the truck. Thetruck may, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, consist of fourwheels 3 running upon a single rail. The piston 6 as well as the wheels3 are adapted to oscillate in relation to the frame 7 of the truck. Atthe piston or at a part participating in the motion of the piston, suchas the truck, there is pivoted a lever 8 adapted to operate a two-waycock 1.

In Fig. 1 the two-way cock 1 is in a position which shuts off the flowto the cylinder. This position will be taken up by the cock 1, when theraising of the hangar by the control gear should come to an end. Thepiston 6 is thus unable to supply any lifting power. If, on the otherhand, the hangar descends, the cylinder 5 follows and also the two-waycock indirectly or directly connected with it. The lever 8 pivoted to itthen causes a counterclockwise rotation and liquid is able to pass fromthe pipe 9 into the cylinder, so that the piston opposes the furtherdescent of the hangar.

A further modification of the truck with an intermediate hydraulicmember is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. The hangar restshere also by means of the supporting plate 10 upon the hydraulicintermediate member, which consists ofthe cylinder cal seat 15 isprovided in the supporting plate joined to the platform of the hangar,and the seat upon the frame 14' of the truck. By the balljoint allbending strains are kept away from the hydraulic intermediate member. inorder to distribute the load uiuform- 'ly over allthe wheels 16 and 16,the frame 14 of the truck is movably arranged on the wheels and axles13and 13' by means of the axles 17 and 17or the bolts or pins 18 and 18.The truck is entrained by the hangar by means of the hauling bars 19 and19".

In very large and long hangars the arrangement of spherical seats willnot be suiticient.- It is then necessary, already for the purpose-ofmaking provisions for expansion and contraction in consequence oftemperature fluctuations, to ensure still greater mobility oftheplatform of the hangar in relation to the trucks. For this purpose theplatform of the hangar is adapted to move transversely to the directionof travel upon the hydraulic intermediate members, as I shown in Figs. 5and'6 of the drawings. The cylinder 20' is in this case provided withtwo arms 21 and 21 extending transversely to the direction of travel. Atthe ends of the arms are pivoted rollers 23 and 23 by means of axles 22and 22. The rollers abut at the top against the supporting plate 24 and24:. The piston is according to the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4supported in the spherical pan 25 in the frame 26. The frame 26 issupported upon the wheels in the same manner as described with referenceto the preceding ures.' Instead of the rollers balls may equally well beused.

Since the trucks travel on curved or circular rail tracks, particularlyin the case of rotatable hangars, it is necessary to render the groupsof wheels or their axles 17 and 17 movable around a vertical axis. Sucha design is illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings. The ends of the frame14, by means of which the hydraulic support of the hangar rests upon thegroups of wheels, are designed as spheres 27 and 27 and the axles arefurnished with spherical seat-s, so that the groups of wheels arecapable of swivelling freely around the frame.

By this hydraulic resilient support and by supporting the hydraulicmembers in spherical seats or on roller or ball bearings the hangar ismade indifferent to the unavoidable unevenness in the rail track.

My invention will even permit, that less care may be bestowed upon thefoundations and thus the first costs of the hangar reduced considerably.It is claimed that my invention solves for the first time the problem"how to render modern giant hangars rotatable or linearly movablelongitudinally or transversely. Movable hangars are, furthermore, anabsolute necessity, if it is desired to make the intercontinentalcommunication by diriibles a safe and thus profitable enterprise, as faras the landing possibilities of the dirigi} bles are concerned. It isobvious, that the necessity to effect the supply of all the drivingmeans, the picking up and putting down of passengers, and the exchangeof worn out or damaged parts by way of the mooring mast would render thepunctuality inobservi'ng the time tables very doubtful. The use of amooring mast in conjunction with stationary hangars is only an inferiormakeshift and is bound to remain such.

It will be understood that the constructions shown in the drawings areonly examples, and that various changesand modifications may be madewithoutgoing beyondthe ambit of my claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a rotatable movable'hangar for dirigibles, intermediate hydraulicmembers, con sisting of a cylinder with reciprocating piston, insertedbetween the wheel truck andthe supporting plate at the, underside of thehangar platform, a hydraulic accumulator (pressure equalizer) in which'aconstant pressure is maintained, and pipes for connecting all saidcylinders with said accumulator and one another.

2. In a rotatable movable hangar for dirigibles, intermediate hydraulicmembers, consisting of a cylinder with reciprocating piston, insertedbetween the wheel truck and the supporting plate the underside-of thehangar platform, a hydraulic accumlator (pressure sure is maintained,and pipes for connecting all said cylinders with said accumulator andone another, and means for controlling said cylinders and pistons inregard to the supply equalizer) in which a constant presof the workingmedium by the vertical motion H of'said piston or a part connected withit, and thus automatically limiting the stroke of said piston.

3. In a rotatable movable hangar for dirigibles, intermediate hydraulicmembers, con-M sisting of a cylinder with reciprocating piston, insertedbetween the wheel truck and thesupporting plate at the underside of thehangar platform, ahydraulic accumulator (pressure equalizer) in which aconstant pres- J sure is maintained, and pipes for connect ing all saidcylinders with said accumulator and one another, said cylinder andpiston being supported in sphericalseats at the platform of the hangarand'at the truck.

4t. In a rotatable movable hangar for dirigibles, intermediate hydraulicmembers, consistingvof a cylinder with reciprocating piston, insertedbetween the wheel truck and the supporting plate at the underside of thehangar platform, a hydraulic accumulator (pressure equalizer) in which aconstant pressure is maintained, and pipes for connecting all saidcylinders with said accumulator and one another, said piston beingsupported in a spherical seat at the truck and said cylinder beingadapted to slide at the platform of the hangar transversely to thedirection of travel of the hangar.

5. In a rotatable movable hangar for dirigibles, intermediate hydraulicmembers, consisting of a cylinder with reciprocating piston, insertedbetween the wheel truck and the supporting plate at the underside of thehangar platform, a hydraulic accumulator (pressure equalizer) in which aconstant pressure is maintained, and pipes for connecting all saidcylinders with said accumulator and one another, said cylinder andpistonbeing supported in spherical seats at the platform of the hangarand at the truck, and arms upon said intermediate members extendingtowards both sides beyond the running rails and upon which the platformof the hangar is adapted to rest.

6. In a rotatable movable hangar for dirigibles, intermediate hydraulicmembers, con sisting of a cylinder with reciprocating piston, insertedbetween the wheel truck and the supporting plate at the underside of thehangar platform, ahydraulic accumulator (pressure equallzer) in which aconstant pressure is maintained, and pipes for connecting all saidcylinders with said accumulator and one another, groups of wheels insaid trucks movable around then bolts, spherical ends "upon thehydraulic frame (Fig. 7) and correspondingly shaped bearings upon thewheel axle permitting said wheels to, turn around a vertical axis.

7 Ina rotatable movable hangar for dirigibles, intermediate hydraulicmembers, consisting of a cylinder with reciprocating piston, insertedbetween the wheel truck and the supporting plate at the underside of thehangar platform, a hydraulic accumulator pressure equalizer) in which aconstant pressure is maintained, and pipes for connecting all saidcylinders with said accumulator and one another, said piston beingsupported in a spherical seat at the truck and said cylinder beingadapted to slide at the platform of the hangar transversely to thedirection of travel of the hangar, and arms upon said intermediatemembers extending towards both sides beyond the runningra-ils and uponwhich the platform of the hangar is adaptedto rest.

8. Ina rotatable movable hangar for dirigibles, intermediate hydraulicmembers, consisting of a cylinder with reciprocating piston, insertedbetween the wheel truck and the supporting plate at the underside of thehangar platform, a hydraulic accumlator (pressure equalizer) in which aconstant pressure is maintained, and pipes for connecting all saidcylinders with said accumulator and one another, said cylinder andpiston being supported in spherical seats at the platform of the hangarand at the truck, and arms upon said intermediate members extendingtowards both sides beyond the running rails and upon which the platformof the hangar is adapted to rest, and pivotally mounted roller or ballbearings at the end of said arms.

9. In a rotatable movable hangar for diribles, intermediate hydraulicmembers, consisting of a cylinder with reciprocating piston, insertedbetween the wheel truck and the supporting plate at the underside of thehangar platform, a hydraulic accumulator (pressure equalizer) in which aconstant pressure is maintained, and pipes for connecting all saidcylinders with said accumulator and one another, said piston beingsupported in a spherical seat at the truck and said cylinder beingadapted to slide at the platform of the hangar transversely to thedirection of travel of the hangar, and arms upon said intermediatemembers extending towards both sides beyond the running rails and uponwhich the platform of the hangar is adapted to rest, and

pivotally mounted roller or ball bearings at the ends of said arms. I

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

OTTO KRELL.

